


True That He's No Prince Charming

by tardises-and-swans (musicgirl373)



Series: Little Push, Little Shove [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-13
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-17 06:39:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2300069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicgirl373/pseuds/tardises-and-swans
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pan's curse is changed to a Beauty and the Beast-like curse, affecting Killian, Charming and the people of Storybrooke.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a two part series. Thanks to Sydney (jollyrogerjayhawk on tumblr) for the beta!

 

 

“Hello Papa,” Rumplestiltskin grunted, twisting the dagger even deeper in the other man’s back, the man who had been a teenage boy not even a second before. Killian grimaced as smoke surrounded the both of them, feeling sorry for Belle and more so for Bae as the dark cloud dissipated, leaving nothing in its wake.

He thought back to what Pan had told him of this plan back in Neverland. 

“Look’s like it’s going to be back to the Enchanted Forest for you all. Home sweet home right? But with a twist of course,” he had said with a smirk and a raised eyebrow, “You were always so vain, weren’t you Captain? Enjoy it while you can.” And with that, he disappeared in his signature green fog.

The same green fog that was now heading their way and fast.

Killian had warned the prince, gave him all the information he had and they both, in turn, had gone to Rumplestiltskin, but even the Dark One could not tell what Pan’s schemes were. So they had done the worst thing that Killian could think of.

They sent Emma away.

Originally, the plan had been to have Henry go with her, but she had asked him who he wanted to stay with and against all odds, he had said Regina, though the former queen had tried her hardest to get him to leave. He was adamant. So, even though it had clearly broken her heart, she let him go, and was about to go off on her own, to be without her family once more when Snow White, much to Killian’s surprise, stopped her and said she would go with Emma so she didn’t have to be alone anymore.

Charming was more than reluctant to let her go.

“But you can’t, Snow, what if--”

“There is no what if, David. I’m not abandoning my daughter again. Not this time, not when I have control over it,” she said adamantly.

“I’m already losing my daughter. I can’t lose you too.” The prince looked close to tears.

“You’re not losing us. We’re a family and we always will be. You’ll find me. You always have,” she said with a teary smile, “We know what Emma is capable of, but she shouldn’t have to go through it alone again.” She looked at her daughter, her teary smile now filled with pride.

She was right of course, Emma was their only hope. She was the Savior, the one who could (and would, that fact Killian knew better than he knew the stars) break Pan’s curse. Even if she hadn’t wanted the role in the first place, she still took on her destiny with the courage and tenacity that he had come to love about her. Love that had consumed him, even as he watched her little yellow vessel cross the town line, taking her memories with it, leaving him with in pain, laced with a sense of finality that he hadn’t felt since he lost Liam and Milah.

And now, as he was standing there next to their family, Prince Charming and the townspeople, he couldn’t help but feel her right beside him. He wanted nothing more than to face this last adventure with Swan by his side. He knew he couldn’t but at least he wasn’t completely alone this time, as he had grown used to.

“Hook,” the Prince said to his right, his voice shaking with sadness, as they all watched the town’s fate loom closer and closer.

“Aye?”

“We need to get Snow and Emma. We have to,” he said, reaching into his pockets.

“Tell me something I don’t know, mate.”

“Alright I will,” Charming said, taking three small green vials with notes on them, “I took these from Gold’s shop when we spoke with him. They’re memory potions. We don’t know what’s going to happen after this curse does its damage, but it’s anything like the other one, then our memories are in danger. These may be the only advantage we have over the curse. I’m trusting you with one; the note on the vial will tell you what to do if I’m right about the memories. I hadn’t thought that Snow would leave, but...” he trailed off, handing them to him, but he was still shaking with emotion and another one of the vials fell and dropped to the ground, shattering on the street. The fog came faster.

“Leave it, it doesn’t matter. We’ll figure it out,” Charming said, and his look turned imploring, “But you have to take yours. It’s the only way. You have to remember--” and that was the last thing Killian heard before the smoke consumed them and the pain burst its way through his body.

***

Killian cracked his eyes open. He didn’t remember going to sleep on the floor. He didn’t remember going to sleep at all. In fact, he couldn’t remember anything from the past few days, as though he had had just enough rum to keep the memories away. He sat up, feeling something clenched in his fist. He opened his hand to reveal a small green vial, which he promptly dropped with a look of confused disgust. That could have poison in it for all he knew.

Where was Cora? That blasted witch had probably left him behind again. He rubbed his eyes with his good hand but when he took it away, he saw that it was disfigured with scars as though he had been burned. And now that he was looking at it, he felt a dull heat, like he was sitting too close to a fire. In fact, the rest of his body felt that way as well.

The burning spread to his arms. He struggled with rolling his sleeves up, a task that was difficult normally but made even harder when he realized that his hook was gone, leaving behind the stump where his hand used to be. There were scars there too, and dark vein like tattoos webbed their way around his forearms and biceps. On his stumped arm, they wove themselves around a tattoo, one that--again--he couldn’t remember getting.

It was of the Jolly Roger, one of the most realistic tattoos he had ever laid eyes on. He could almost hear the sound of the wind blowing in the sails, could almost see the ripples in the water and wait...that was odd. The waves were crashing into themselves as though they were real. The sails were blown out. The entire ship appeared to be _moving_. An enchantment of some sort, clearly. But how? Cora?

That’s certainly a possibility, he thought.

But it didn’t explain the burning, which was intensifying with each passing second. He stood stumbling around to find that he was in some sort of hall, with drape covered windows and a fully set dining hall table. Sunlight was fighting the curtains to get through, but it wasn’t quite succeeding. He ambled forward towards what he could make out as two large doors at the end of the hall. But there was an object on the side that he didn’t see and he tripped on what felt like another curtain. He fell to the floor, landing on his back with a thump. He sat up and found himself looking at a mirror, but the man staring back at him wasn’t familiar at all.

The scars were all over his face and neck; and the veins that covered his arms had been joined by silver lines. And the burning. It was like a blaze through his body, more intense than ever.

A beast.

He looked like a disfigured beast, so he did what all beasts do.

He roared.


	2. Chapter 2

_**6 months later** _

_It should not be this hard to track down a single pirate,_ David thought as he looked on at the dark, isolated castle. The place itself looked creepy as it was, like something out of a silly horror flick that Henry had always loved, but the fact that it was cold and drizzly only added to that feel. He sighed, stepping towards the wrought iron gate, which was closed to intruders. He would have to climb a tree or something to get over. He hadn’t done that in years, not since he was a boy growing up on his mother’s farm, but luckily the trees were all overgrown with most of the branches leaning out above the fence and into the yard.

He began his ascent, starting with a low thick branch and swinging himself up, feeling the pull on his leg muscles as he did so.

_Definitely not as good at this as I used to be._

He continued to climb, eventually easing out onto the thinner branches, getting himself over the fence. He tried to go slowly so as not to break the branches, but in the end that wasn’t what he should have been worried about. The leaves and branches were slick with rain and moss and just as he got the to the edge of the branch, he slipped off, falling a few feet to the ground with a thud. He picked himself up immediately, brushing some wet leaves off of himself, but it appeared most of the mud was there to stay.

He began walking forward when a small, sharp pain went through his left calf. There was a long tear in the cloth of his pants, revealing a cut a little bit longer than the size of his forefinger.

He limped over towards the large mahogany doors, the pain shooting through his leg. Sure he’d had worst, but this one was just annoying. He made it, covered in rain and mud, panting a little bit. He banged on the doors, flat out ignoring the big brass knockers and waited.

“Hello!” he yelled, “My name is David. I’m looking for Captain Hook! It’s urgent!”

He continued to wait, but no one came. As far as he was concerned, the place was completely deserted. He took his map out, scanning over it. He was definitely in the right place. Weeks worth of research (and not to mention _walking_ ) could not have lead him astray.

When the curse had hit, he had ended up separated from everyone else, without his memories in a small village near Sherwood Forest. He’d had some memories of Snow, of Emma, of his life in Storybrooke, but they had all seemed like dreams to him. Other aspects of his life had slowly come through too, like the technology that had used to be at his fingertips. He would draw pictures of them, trying to remember how they all worked and what they looked like, in order to keep his grasp on them. People had thought he was crazy, and for the longest time he had agreed with them.

Until one night.

He had gone out to a tavern, one that the men in the village often frequented, though that night it had been quiet. He had sat at the bar for god knows how long, drinking rum, just wanting to forget for a little bit. The next thing he knew, he was being woken up by a stranger in a hood leaning over him in the snow. The stranger had handed him a vile, told him to drink up, and for some reason he had listened. Then, Snow’s smiling face flashed behind his eyelids, the town sign, his wedding day, Emma and Henry, his promises to Snow that he would always find her and the realization that those had all been real came crashing through him.

He had looked up to thank the stranger, but he was already gone. He knew what he had to do.

He set off, first going to the docks to see if he could find Hook there, but he didn’t have any luck. The townspeople generally looked at him like he was insane--he had grown used to that--but they looked downright terrified when he had asked about Hook. One person had finally told him how to get there, but even their directions sounded like a warning. He had hardly any money and it had taken him a couple of weeks to get there, even after he had managed to commandeer a horse (it’s not stealing if it’s important). But the vegetation surrounding the castle had gotten too thick for him to get a horse through, so he had to set off on foot the day before.

All of that in search of one pirate. He just hoped that this wasn’t a completely fruitless endeavor, though now it was looking like it was. Hook had proven himself in Neverland, showing that he could be part of a team and David knew that he would be vital in breaking this second curse.

But in his journey, he hadn’t forgotten Snow. He would make sure that he kept his promise to find her, to find his family. It was the only thing he had to hold on to.

And he certainly wasn’t going to let a pair of closed doors stand in his way.

He pushed open the doors, and was a bit surprised when they just opened to him.

Though it wouldn’t seem like it from the outside of the castle, the inside was spotless. He had expected it to be covered in cobwebs, for the furniture to be under cloth, but it was almost immaculate. Someone had to inhabit this castle.

But it was dark. All of the windows had drapes covering them, and it looked like the place hadn’t seen a ray of sunlight in years.

“Hello?” he called again, his voice echoing in the foyer. He stepped forward, towards the large stairs.

“Hi Grandpa!” David jumped, looking around.

“I’m down here,” the voice said. He looked down. By his feet was a small teacup, one that hadn’t been there when he arrived.

“Yes, I’m the cup,” the voice said dryly, “Now pick me up. I have to tell you something.” David just kept looking down for a moment in shock. He recognized that voice.

“You okay there?” the cup said. Finally, David groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, thinking that he’d seen weirder things. He picked up the cup, turning it over in his hands. He tried to find the source of the voice, holding the handle gently.

“Dude, you’re holding my nose,” the voice said. David finally turned it holding it with both hands as though the was cupping someone’s cheeks. There were animated looking eyes on either side of the handle, and underneath it was a familiar cheeky grin. The base of the cup was purple with a petal design.

“You’re voice,” he said, “it sounds familiar.”

“I’d hope you would recognize your grandson’s voice. It’s me!” David jumped, startled, and nearly dropped the cup.

“Don’t drop me please! I’m fragile!” the cup chided.

“Henry?!”

“Yep! Hey grandpa, been a few months hasn’t it?” he was grinning even wider now. David was still having a hard time believing his eyes. This couldn’t be real. Of course, he believed in stranger things, but this had to have been some sort of hallucination or dream. His grandson was a boy, not a teacup.

“I know you’re probably thinking that you’re hallucinating but you’re not. This is all real and if you’ll just listen to me for a few minutes, I’ll explain everything. Well most every--”

“Henry!” another voice said. He looked down again and this time around, there was a teapot by his feet. She was tipped up on her base, to the point that it was a wonder that she hadn’t fallen backwards. And she was annoyed. It couldn’t be anyone but Regina.

“It’s way past your bedtime...oh. Hello your Highness. It’s about time you got here,” she said in her usual cool tone.

Yep definitely Regina.

“Anyway if you don’t mind putting my son down so he can go back to the cupboard, _where he’s supposed to be_ ,” she said with a pointed look at Henry, before turning back to him, “that would be just peachy.”

“But mom!” Henry whined. Charming set him down on the ground.

“The only ‘but’ I want is yours in bed. Now, move,” she said, hopping off with Henry in tow. Charming stood, watching them leave, when Regina the teapot turned back.

“Well do you want answers or are you just going to stand there like the idiot I know you to be?” she snapped. He groaned again, quietly this time and walked over to her. She began hopping again and he found himself slowing down his usual pace so she could lead him. Henry was way ahead of them, having not stopped like Regina but he was slower and he went in odd directions as though he was tired, even though he had seemed so awake when they were talking.

“He was sound asleep before you started banging on the door and yelling, you know. He needs his sleep,” Regina said, stopping again at a door in the wall, about halfway through the darkened hallway. The double doors themselves had two suits of armor guarding them and there were more lining each side of the hall.

“There’s a common room in there,” she said, “Go start a fire, and get warm but don’t get too comfortable. We have a lot to discuss and not too much time to discuss it.” She turned and hopped off again, but charming didn’t let her get too far before calling out to her.

“Regina, I have to know, is Hook here or not? I need his help.”

She stopped in her tracks and appeared to sigh, that is if teapots _could_ sigh.

“He’s here,” she said slowly, “When Pan’s curse hit, he became the master of the castle. But he’s changed. I’m not sure if he can help you, or if he would even want to.”

And with that, she hopped off again, leaving David standing in the doorway, face ashen. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 is going to be a bit shorter than I was originally planning. I'm expecting it to be about 5-6 chapters, but part 2 is going to be a bit longer. As always, thanks to jollyrogerjayhawk for beta. Enjoy!

When Regina arrived at the kitchen, she felt more tired than she had in years. Life as a teapot wasn’t exactly easy and with her magic gone, it just made all of it that much more difficult. She jumped up on the counter to make sure that her son had actually gone to bed like she had asked.

He was on his base, his eyes drooping. Among all the other small teacups, he was almost indistinguishable, except for that small chip in his rim. But she had become able to tell them all apart during the past few months. They were all children of Storybrooke and though some of their parents were somewhere in the castle, brooms or feather dusters maybe, but most of them had been placed out in the Enchanted Forest somewhere. At first, she had taken care of just Henry, but eventually she had started taking care of all of them.

_I’ve gone from a queen to the runner of a chinaware orphanage_ , she often found herself thinking. The idea had bothered her at first, but she had come to love them all. The teacup sleeping next to Henry, Roland, was one that she simply adored. He was one of the lucky ones--his father, Robin Hood, was a clock and while he usually was there to watch over his son, he seemed to be running late. Probably with Will Scarlet, whom she assumed was a former acquaintance, with apparently some bad history.

_All the better_ , she thought.

She went up to her son, who was just about to fall asleep.

“Mom?” he whispered.

“Yes, Henry?”

“Aren’t you glad Grandpa actually came? We’ll be human again!” Roland and some of the other teacups stirred at the sound of his whisper-yell.

“Shh, Henry, you’ll wake the entire castle up. Yes, I am happy. Don’t get your hopes up too high though. This curse is complicated.”

“I know, but there’s nothing wrong with hoping right?” She gave him a soft smile.

“You’re right. Now go to sleep. I love you.”

“Love you too, goodnight.” He nestled back in the cupboard and she nudged the door almost closed with her spout.

“Are all of them tucked away?” Robin Hood came up onto the counter, doing it as quietly as a mantle clock could. She simply nodded, yawning a bit. Though she didn’t act like it most of the time, she actually quite enjoyed talking to him. She had even found herself wondering what he had looked like when he was human. He knew who she was of course, as she had made that clear when they had first arrived at this godforsaken place. She knew he hated her, as she had come to expect from most people, but lately he had managed to be civil with her and they had ended up running the castle together in a way.

“I see we have a visitor in the common room. I am assuming our message got through then?” he asked.

“Obviously. Looks like that Hatter is actually good for something.”

“He has a name you know.” She turned to him.

“I don’t care about what his name is. I care about getting this curse broken. I hate having to take a bath in a sink. He was a means to a hopefully successful end. Once he had seen and spoken with Grace, he was up for anything.”

“I can’t imagine what it must be like for him. Losing his daughter so many times, and then finding out that she’s a teacup while he’s still human? I don’t think I could do it once with Roland,” he said solemnly. Regina considered that. She had lost Henry once to Pan, and she was indeed very grateful that she didn’t have to do it again.

“Regardless,” she said, “Pan made this curse complicated. The attack was proof of that.” And with that they both hopped onto a nearby cart and she told it to take her to the common room where the Prince was.

They rolled into the common room. It was somewhat large, not as big as some of the other ones in the castle. There was a lit fireplace opposite the door, with a large cushioned chair in front of it. the room was dark, save for the firelight. The walls were sparsely decorated, with a few landscape paintings here and there. The Prince was sitting in the large chair when they arrived, his feet on the ottoman. He was speaking with the candelabra that was on the end table.

“...and I was woken up by this sudden loud roar--woke me up from me nap-- and then I look down--no legs, these brass things for arms and a flame on top of me head. Bloody hell when I find out who cast this curse, I’m gonna--”

“Will, that’s enough,” Robin said softly. The Prince and the candelabra looked over.

“Who are you?” Charming asked, sounding tired of asking that question.

“My name is Robin Hood. I see you’ve already met Will.” Charming just nodded, giving him a faint, tired smile.

“Well now that we’ve imitated the beginning of an AA meeting--” Regina started.

“A what?” Robin asked, while Will just gave her a look.

“--let’s get down to business,” she continued, pointedly ignoring both of them, “We have a curse to break, remember?”

“Goodness we were just being polite,” Will said defensively.

“I don’t care,” she huffed, “We’re trying to break a curse here, not eat a fancy dinner.”

“Well we’re not getting any farther by arguing, so shall we begin?” Robin said, taking his eyes from Regina and looking at Charming, “So what happened on your end, Your Highness?”

The Prince went into a long speech of what had happened to him, how he had been treated and finally, how he had gotten his memories back.

“That was probably the Mad Hatter,” Regina cut in.

“Jefferson?”

“Yes. He had come to us in an...unorthodox manner, looking for his daughter.”

“What do you mean?” Charming asked. Regina looked to Robin, unsure of whether to tell him or not. Robin gave her a small nod and she went on.

“Three months ago, the castle was attacked. They were looking for Hook.”

“Hook? Why? What did he do?”

“This curse is complicated to say the least,” Robin said, “Most of the objects in this castle were human before the curse hit. People were turned into dusters, ovens, wardrobes and a lot of them were separated from their families. Well, the families were convinced that Hook was the one who took them away. The Hatter was no different. His daughter, Grace, was turned into a teacup. So they got a mob together and attacked the castle. They searched high and low, destroying a lot of the castle, unaware that it was their loved ones they were harming. Jefferson had come into the kitchen, and Regina got his attention. She knew what he was after, and convinced him to get a memory potion to you, that it was the only way to save his daughter.”

“Wait Regina, you have your magic?” Charming asked, a glimmer of hope in his eye.

“No, I don’t,” she said, looking down, “we found a couple of them in the castle, both around Hook. We’ve been trying to get him to take one but he refuses, says he doesn’t want to remember. Stupid stubborn pirate.” The last words were muttered.

“They were going to destroy and kill everyone in the castle, but Hook stood up to them. When they saw him, they were terrified but he managed to fight them off--with the help of a few of us of course. Once they saw the moving objects, they left. He saved many lives that day, and for that we are all grateful,” Robin said.

“Well then where is he? I really need to see him.”

“Yes you have made that abundantly clear. He’s here. He doesn’t have any inclination anymore to even come out of his room,” Regina said.

“It’s like he gone right mad,” Will piped up, “He used to be social, he would come down for meals, chat with us and the only odd thing about him was that he wanted all the bloody mirrors covered. After the attack though, he changed. Now the only ones he talks to are me, Regina and Robin here.”

While Charming appeared to be considering that, Regina was thinking back to the night of the attack. Henry had escaped the cupboard, wanting to see the action and he nearly got trampled in the commotion, but Hook had picked him up just in time. That had made it twice that he had saved Henry.

“It sounds like he’s out then,” Charming said, sounding more than disappointed.

“Not necessarily,” Regina said, “He goes around murmuring about Miss Swan sometimes. I think he wants to remember her.”

“Emma? Why would he remember her?” Regina gaped at his genuinely confused face.

“You never noticed the yearning looks and doey eyes?”

Charming continued to give her a puzzled look. She groaned.

“He has a thing for her. He’s had one since Neverland and it’s only grown since then. I think he loves her, and he’s trying to remember her, but he just can’t. God, am I the only one who notices these things?” she huffed.

“Even if he does want to help though, it seems like he just can’t. We’ll need more than just a memory potion if we want to defeat this curse,” Charming said.

“What did you have in mind?” Robin asked.

“Rumplestiltskin. Is he here?”

“Well yeah but he’s the bloomin’ Dark One. Why do ya want his help?” Will said.

“If you guys can get the memory potion that Hook didn’t take, then I can go to Rumplestiltskin and get to the other realm. I might even be able to get another memory potion from him.”

“That’s insane,” Regina said, “All magic comes with a price and Rumple is all about his deals. You won’t be an exception to those rules. You might have to give up something horrible.”

“Well, I can’t think of anything else to do. If it means saving my family and the people of Storybrooke, then I’m willing to do whatever it takes, even if that is working with the Dark One.”

“You work for the Crocodile?” a cold voice said from the door. They all looked over.

Hook.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

The room was silent, save for the crackling of a fire. David’s heart sped up a few beats. He could only see Hook’s silhouette, but he would recognize that voice anywhere. The last time he had heard his voice that sinister was when he had still been hunting Rumpelstiltskin. The man he had come to respect, and even like, was gone.      

The pirate crossed the room and David stood up out of the chair. When Hook’s face came into the firelight, he understood why he would want all the mirrors covered up. Hook looked like someone had taken a knife and slashed his face and body with it. His hair was messy, sticking up in all directions, and he had a crazed look in his eye that David had never seen.

“Sorry, don’t mean to interrupt, but I couldn’t help but overhear your lovely conversation. So, let’s have it,” Hook said, “Are you working for the Crocodile or not?”

“No, I’m not. My name is David--”

“Yes I heard you shouting that at my door earlier.” David’s look shifted from cautious to annoyed.

“And you didn’t answer?! Goodness, I was standing out there for--,” he cut off, trying to calm himself, “Anyway, I know of a way to help you and the people of this castle and for that I’ll need your help, _and_ his.”

“I’m not working with that reptile. He’d be dead before he came through the door.”

“You don’t have to work with him. I need his help getting to another realm, the world without magic. But I know you have a memory potion. I need it.”

“What makes you think I have a memory potion?”

“Because we told him, you dingbat!” Will snapped.

“Shut up, candle,” Killian sneered, not turning his attention away from David, who heard Will faintly whine, “I’m a candelabra,” while Robin looked on with sympathy.

“He needs the potion that you refuse to take,” Regina said, “If anyone can help us, Hook, it’s this guy.” Hook pondered that for a moment.

“What do you need it for?”

“As I said, I need to get to the other realm. My wife and daughter are there, but they don’t remember me or that this world even exists.”

“And you think one memory potion will help with that? The vial isn’t exactly big.”

“I was hoping Rumplestiltskin could help me on that front too.”

“Relying on the Crocodile for help. You’re crazier than I thought.”

“And that’s saying something, coming from the likes of you,” Will muttered. Hook ignored him, apparently pondering what David was saying.

“Your wife and daughter, why do you need to get to them? How will they be of any help to breaking this curse?”

“Snow White and Emma Swan. I think it’s pretty obvious why I need to get them back here. As for how they’ll help, well, my daughter has a habit of breaking curses.”

Hook paled a little staring into the fire, as though the sound of Emma’s name had struck something in him, some memory.

“Swan?” he murmured.

“Yes, Emma. Do you remember her?” Hope flared in David’s mind. He had seen the “yearning looks and doey eyes” that Regina had referred to, even if he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge it at the time. Hook continued to look stricken for a moment, lost in his head, before turning back to David. His guard was back up, but the hostility was gone.

“No, just the name...it matters not. She has a habit of breaking curses? Is she a witch of some sort?”

“No, not exactly. It’s complicated.”

“As is everything else. But you want my memory potion. What do I get in return?”

David was taken aback.

“What do you mean? I just told you that I can help break this curse if you give me the potion.”

“Aye, but I want proof that you’re not screwing me over. I want a chance to help break it myself. You give me that,then I’ll give you the potion.Also you may stay here , your wife and daughter as well.”

David thought that over. It really was a good offer; he wasn’t asking much at all, and he was going to help.

“Deal. But you may be in line with Rumplestiltskin if you do that.”

“It’s not him I’m helping. It’s me.”

_Always the pirate,_ David thought, smirking to himself.

***

“The Dark One lives in the village, an hour’s ride from here,” Robin said from the ground, where he was standing next to Regina.

David was stepping inside of a horseless black carriage, out of the rain. What had started as a drizzle the night before it had turned into a storm that was still going strong. Hook had been the first one to go back to his room after the conversation in the common room yesterday. Regina, Robin and Will had offered him dinner and a bed to stay in. The castle had looked immense on the outside, but the sheer amount of rooms inside had only amplified its vastness. They had found him a room in the east wing, where the warm bed and blankets were a welcome change from forest floors and barns.

“Thank you all, for everything. I’ll be back as soon as possible,” David promised.

“We wish you safe travels,” Robin said warmly, while Regina looked towards the castle. Henry had wanted to come and say bye to David, but she had said no, that she didn’t want him to get wet. He was standing in the doorway next to Will, who had also opted out of saying a formal goodbye.

“I don’t want me flame to go out in the rain,” he had said. David had nodded in understanding, picking up Henry.

“Good luck Grandpa,” he had said, giving him a cheeky grin, “Bring mom and grandma home, okay?”

“I will, don’t you doubt it,” he had said solemnly, and placed him gently on the ground next to Will.

And now as he looked back at that dark, dreary castle, another memory returned to him, one that at the time hadn’t seemed important. At the town line, when they were watching Snow and Emma leave, Hook had a faraway look on his face, as if his happiness was driving away in a small yellow car. The same way David had felt.

Hook was lying to himself even if he didn’t realize it. He wasn’t just helping to break the curse for himself. He just needed a little push in the right direction to realize it.

***

Killian looked on through the window in the west wing as the black carriage drove away, taking his guest from last night with it. He watched it until it was out of his sight, and then turned back into his lonely dark room. He had chosen the biggest one in the castle of course, the one with the softest bed and the tallest windows with the best view (even if he kept the curtains closed on it most of the time now).

He slumped down in his chair, resting his forearms on the piles of drawings of swans and leather jackets and green eyes and a slightly crooked smile, one that had been floating around in his dreams since he had woken up in this castle. Or should he say dream, because it was the same one again and again: standing across from the beautiful blonde woman, telling her that not a day would go by without him thinking of her. And her reply, that one word, so faint that it was almost a whisper. He had kept his promise, in his own way. Now he had a name to put to the face. Maybe.

He had to admit that he had been acting odd since the attack a few months back. He had been closed off, but was he actually crazy like Will had said? That was definitely possible.

But he did know one thing. He had been lying to David; he wasn’t just doing this for himself. He was doing it for the girl in his dream.  

For Emma.

 

 


	5. Chapter 5

David had been expecting to see Rumpelstiltskin as the Dark One, not as Mr. Gold the shop owner. But there he was, sitting across from David in a seedy tavern, dressed similarly to the other men in the village. He seemed perfectly aware of what was going on, had even recognized David when he had walked in

“Ah, I see you’re the one person I’ve come across to actually have his memories. Excellent,” Gold said.

“How did you know?” David said, sitting down.

Generally, people don’t just walk up to me. I’ve quite the reputation.”

“So you know why I’m here then?”

“Of course I do.” A barmaid came by offering them a drink but Mr. Gold waved her off, “You need to break the curse, and to do that you need to get to your family.”

David nodded, “I think it may be the only way to break this curse. Emma’s the Savior; she has magic, even if she refuses to acknowledge it.”

“They won’t remember you. There’s that little rule about the town line remember?”

“I know, which leads me to my next point,” David said, pulling out the vial of memory potion from his pocket, “I need another one of these.”

“Did you take that from my shop?” Gold asked an angry look on his face.

“…possibly. Can you help me out or not?”

Mr. Gold groaned.

“I don’t just carry them with me, but I can tell you how to make one.”

“Great. As for transport?”

“I do have a magic bean, back at the house I’m staying in, and there is another one in my shop.”

“How do you have one? Those aren’t exactly easy to come by.”

“I have my ways,” Mr. Gold said, his guard coming up. “But there is the matter of payment. I need your help too. Belle and Bae.”

“They’re missing?” Gold nodded, the manic looks that he always had as the Dark One coming back to him, contrasting completely with the calm man who had been before David not moments before.

“She has them.”

“Who?”

“I can’t tell you, but she has them and she’s going to hurt them. Please, help me. I’m begging you.”

“Of course I’ll help you. When I get Snow and Emma back, we all will.”

The manic look started fading as Gold calmed down.

“Thank you,” he said, his voice faint.

***

“So wait some 14 year old stole you?” Will asked, sitting near the edge of the sink in the kitchen and watching as Henry splashed around in the suds. Regina had left for a little while to attend to some things with Robin and had left Will in charge of making sure all the teacups got their baths in before going to bed. Not that it really mattered for them anyway; they were hardly ever used. But Regina insisted that these kids stick to the routine, so that when they became human again they wouldn’t “smell like they had been rolling around in mud for a year,” as she had put it.

_Why she left a bloomin candle in charge of bath time is beyond me,_ Will thought.

“Well, he wasn’t the one who took me. It was two of his henchmen—one of which was my dad’s fiancee—“

“Your dad was with one of Pan’s henchmen?! What kind of bloody idiot does that?”

“He didn’t know it at the time. But yeah it was her and this other guy named Greg. And Pan isn’t 14 either. He was, like, Mr. Gold’s dad or something,” Henry said as he blew bubbles out of his top. Will leaned back, making sure none of the bubbles hit him.

“That makes him your great granddad then?” When Henry nodded, Will went on, “You have some weird family history kid. First the Queen of Hearts and now Pan? And I thought me own family was nuts.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Henry said dryly, while some of the other teacups hopped out to dry, turning themselves this way and that to get the water, which they got everywhere, some drops landing too close for Will’s comfort.

“Oi, watch where you’re sending that water, all of you!” he snapped at them, annoyed before turning to Henry, “So then what happened?”

Henry continued to explain what had happened in Neverland, and Will gasped at the part where he almost died, though he tried to hide it. He hopped out of the water finally, the last one to get out. By then, some of the teacups had already gone back to the cupboard for the night. Will got back up on his base, stretching his brass arms out, ready for bed himself.

“So what’s your story then?” Henry asked, as he mimicked what the others had done to dry off. Will remembered back before things like this had become routine for them; when not having fingers was a hardship and getting around was almost impossible--when they had figured out that the carts were among the objects that were once human, it was a godsend.

“Me story? Dunno, don’t really have one,” he was lying through his teeth, but he didn’t want to tell the boy, at least not yet.

“Oh come on, everyone has a story to tell,” Henry replied, teetering close to the edge of the counter.

“Be careful Henry, you don’t want to--” but Henry was already over before Will could finish his sentence. Will went to the edge, shouting Henry’s name, when a black blur came across his line of vision. He expected to hear that telltale crash of china against stone, and squeezed his eyes shut; going through his head of what he could tell Regina before she murdered him. How would she cope? How would he cope? Oh gods, what had he done?

But there was no crash.

Will opened his eyes, peeking over the edge to see Hook on the ground on his belly, good arm extended and Henry in his hand, safe and sound. Hook nimbly stood up, placing Henry gently down on the counter again, far away from the edge. Will’s jaw hung open.

“Be careful there, lad,” Hook said, “teacups plus long falls are recipes for disaster.” Henry beamed at him, gratitude emanating from him.

“You saved my life. Again,” he said, knowing that in reality it had been three times instead of just two that it had happened, even if Hook wasn’t aware. Hook nodded once and gave him a smile as a way of saying you’re welcome. Henry, satisfied, hopped into the cupboard with the others. He was the last one in and Hook gently closed the cupboard door behind him, before going to the pantry and searching for food. Will followed him.

“What you did back there, Hook, that was amazin’,” he said softly. They were far away from the cupboard now that the children wouldn’t hear them, but they were closer to Granny Lucas the oven who was snoring away, and it would be arguably worst to wake her up.

“That was nothing. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time, is all,” Hook said nonchalantly in his usual guarded manner, taking out some bread.

“Well yeah but you never come down here. You usually want your meals taken to you.”

“A man can’t come down for a snack in his own castle without being questioned? What has this world come to?” Hook countered dryly.

“You did good though. Thank you.” Hook gave him the same nod he had given Henry, only without the smile and turned to take his food back up to his bedroom.

“Hook? One more thing,” Will said. Hook stopped, turning around.

“What?”

“Let’s...not tell Regina about this. I like me head where it is, y’know, attached to me body.” Hook nodded again.

“Agreed. You look ugly normally, but I do fear that without a head you would look downright hideous.”

“Oi, that’s a lot coming from you Scarface,” Will retorted. Hook gave him a confused look.

“Scarface? That’s the best you have?” Hook said, laughing a little.

“It’s a movie ref--never mind,” Will said, resigned. Hook gave him one last smirk before departing and Will went back to sit in front of the cupboard and guard the children. And when Regina returned with Robin, she found him asleep with his head against the door, none the wiser about the night’s events. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates! I have had three tests this week on consecutive days and that was awful. I have a couple of things to get out of the way before we get started here. I know that there hasn’t been anything from Emma’s point of view in this fic, and that it may seem like it’s more of a Snowing than CS fic, but I promise you the series as a whole is CS. I’ve done it this way for a reason so please just bear with me. There is a bit from Emma’s POV in this chapter, and the next chapter (and final chapter of this particular part) will be almost entirely from her POV. Also for part 2 of the series, I have a tentative plan and solid title for it and will get it up as soon as possible! One last thing, this is the first multi-chapter fic that I have ever written and it has gotten a really good response, so I just wanted to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much for reading this. It means a ton to me. Okay, end rant. Enjoy!

David stood in front of Lake Nostos, turning the bean over in his hand. The contents for the memory potion hadn’t taken long to find at all and with Gold’s help, he was able to put it together quick enough. Night had fallen and David only had the moon to light his way, making him realize how much he missed street lights.

He tossed the bean down and a portal opened up, lighting up the night like a beacon. He took a deep breath, as though about to dive into a pool and jumped, hoping that it would lead him where he needed to go.

***

He landed face first in the grass, the cool dew hitting his cheek and making him shiver. It was still the dead of night. He stood, wiping the dew on his hands onto his shirt, and took a look around, only being able to make out trees and benches and he figured he had to be in a park.

Now to find my family, he thought, going over how he could do that in his mind. Yellow pages. Those would help. But do people even use those anymore or is it all on the Internet now? God I’m such a dinosaur. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something glowing on the ground near his feet. He bent down, finding that the source of it was the magic bean.

He picked it up and it felt warm in his palm, almost to the point of being hot. It was vibrating too, and before David knew it, he was being transported again. This time, when he landed, his face met carpet and he rolled over to see the portal closing on the ceiling.

I have fallen more in the past two days than I have in 28 years. He sat up and stretched out his muscles a little, before scooting backwards so his back was against the white wall. He brought his knees up close to his chest and pinched his nose bridge with his thumb and forefinger. He looked up. The door in front of him said 311. He was in an apartment building. He didn’t waste any time, jumping up and knocking on the door, hoping that his suspicions were real: that the bean had lead him exactly where he needed to be.

He knocked until someone answered, not going to be deterred like he was at Killian’s castle, and that someone was a very disgruntled Emma.

“Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?” she said, one had on the door and the other behind her back.

“I, uh, I...” David stuttered, thinking that he really hadn’t thought this through.

“You have five seconds to tell me what you want and leave or I’m calling the police.”

“Emma, okay listen to me--”

“How do you know my name?”

“I’m your--” he started, but was interrupted.

“Emma, what’s going on?” another voice he recognized said. Snow came to the door and David felt his heart stop. After 6 months, she was near him again. And she was looking at him like he was insane.

“Nothing. Crazy over here was just leaving,” Emma replied, not taking her eyes off David, and slamming the door in his face.

David stood there, not realizing that his jaw had dropped open.

Now what?

***

After Emma shut the door, she leaned back on it, facing her roommate and best friend. She felt the gun that she always kept in her nightstand drawer against her lower back. Mary Margaret, ever the kind souled teacher, had a concerned look on her face, even if it was tinged with a little bit of fear.

“What was that?” she asked.

“I don’t even know. At first I thought he was just some guy who was a little bit too passionate about God and wanted to spread the word, but then he said my name.”

“Do you know him?”

Emma gave her a look.

“Of course not. I’ve never seen him before in my life. Now, it’s 2am and I want to go back to sleep,” she said, yawning a bit. Mary Margaret agreed, and gave a small goodnight before going back down to her room down the hall. Emma followed suit, going to the room across from hers. She flopped down on the bed, setting the gun on the nightstand and pulled the covers over herself. She fell asleep, drifting off to dreams of a townline, smoke and a hook.

***

Mary Margaret looked down at a stack of her third graders’ science tests, a mess of silly drawings and still-learning handwriting. No matter how long she stared though, she couldn’t get the red pen in her hand to move. She felt she had been like that all day, frazzled and unable to concentrate, even if her students had been oblivious.

She and Emma had been having breakfast at their favorite coffee shop that morning, a weekly tradition for them ever since they had moved to New York together a few months back. They had grown up in the foster care system together, since Mary Margaret’s parents had passed, and had become closer than sisters over the years. They kept in touch as much as they could when they were in different foster homes and when were old enough to leave the system, they had found each other again.

Mary Margaret had lucked out more than Emma; her foster parents were nicer and had given her some money to help her when she was no longer in their care. When she found Emma, they got a crappy little apartment together and had gotten jobs. They took classes at a local community college in Boston, with Mary Margaret going into education and Emma going into criminal justice. They had been with each other for everything. Emma had cried on Mary Margaret’s shoulder when her boyfriend Neal had up and left her, with no word as to where he went or why he left. Mary Margaret was ready to kill him, and she would have done it too, if Emma hadn’t asked her not to. But she eventually got over it, and they settled into their routine lives.

And now they sat across from each other, with a chocolate chip scone and coffee for Mary Margaret and just a hot chocolate with cinnamon for Emma. As usual, Mary Margaret was doing most of the talking--mainly about her students’ antics--and Emma nodding along, until she got up to use the restroom, leaving Mary Margaret alone. She traced a chocolate chip that had escaped from the scone and stuck it in her mouth, when she felt a rustling on the table cloth and looked up.

The man from last night was sitting there, in Emma’s spot. Mary Margaret jumped a little, startled.

“Okay, I know what you might be thinking, but no I’m not a stalker. My name is David,” he said, his voice calm but pleading at the same time. Mary Margaret didn’t know what to think, but she remembered him from last night. He had seemed harmless enough at the time, but the fact that he had known Emma’s name was alarming. She had even thought he was kind of cute, with his light brown hair and blue eyes.

“Mary Margaret,” she replied cautiously. The man—David—looked down, giving a half smile, as though he already knew that too. Strike two.

“I know how this may look, but you have to listen to me. Please.” His voice was earnest, and it didn’t seem like he was going to hurt her, so she nodded once and sat back, motioning for him to go on.

“Everything you know, all of this, the apartment, being roommates with Emma, it isn’t real. This life you’re living? It’s false,” he said with complete sincerity, looking her straight in the eye. She stared back at him, confused.

“Okay…that’s, um,” she said, unsure of how else to respond, “What, exactly, does that mean?” Her alarm bells were going off now and she wondered where Emma was and if she was coming back soon.

“It means that you have a family and friends. They all live in a town called Storybrooke in Maine, or at least they used to. They all need your help. I need your help. If you don’t believe me, look down at your ring.” She did, eyeing the green-stoned ring that she always wore.

“Where did you get it?” he asked.

“I’ve always had it, ever since I can remember. I think I found it somewhere,” she replied, but she was unsure. She had had it for a long time.

“I gave you that ring, or rather, you stole it from me.”

“You can’t prove that.”

“No, I can’t. You have to trust me. Dig deep, Mary Margaret, think about it. Please.” And with that, he left the table. Emma came back, took one look at Mary Margaret and immediately asked what was wrong, to which she said nothing. She just didn’t know what to say.

And now, as she sat at her desk, everyone in the school gone, she still didn’t know what to say or how to react. She stared down at her ring again, and with a frustrated sigh, she packed up and headed home.

Emma had a date with Walsh tonight and by the looks of the time, had probably already left, meaning that Mary Margaret was going to have the apartment to herself. She took the subway and walked the rest of the way home, just like she normally did, shivering against the January air. She trudged up the stairs of her apartment building, the climb feeling like more of a drag than normal. She opened the door to her apartment and went in leaning against the back of it, surprised to find the lights on. She couldn’t remember the last time she had felt so tired. Finally, she peeled her back from the door and walked down the hallway.

Much to her surprise though, she found Emma sitting on the couch in her dress, playing a videogame.

“Emma?” she asked, kicking off her shoes and plopping down next to Emma.

“Hold on just one second,” Emma replied as she finished a fight quickly, pausing the game when she was done and looking over at Mary Margaret. Her eyes were guarded, something Mary Margaret wasn’t used to, and hadn’t seen since they were little. “What’s up?”

“Well, nothing but…aren’t you supposed to be on a date?”

“Yeah, about that,” Emma said, drawing out the first word a bit, “Walsh proposed.” Mary Margaret’s eyes went wide.

“He did?!” she said, shocked. They had only been dating for three months and while Mary Margaret had tried to be supportive of the relationship, she had always found something to be off about the guy. Call it a best friend’s sixth sense, or even a superpower, but she didn’t trust the guy. But now wasn’t the time to bring that up. “What did you say?”

“I said…I would think about it. That I just needed a bit to mull it over.”

“And what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking…I’m not sure. I actually kind of wanted your advice. What do you think I should do?” Mary Margaret thought about it for a moment.

“I can’t tell you what to do. You seem happy with him. Does this feel right for you?” she asked.

“Honestly, it’s moving too fast. We’ve only been dating for a couple of months. But here’s the crazy thing,” Emma said, “he went a bit weird when I said I needed time. He was a gentleman about it of course in the end, but something just didn’t feel right at the time. I think that’s what I need to tell him. That I like him but I need more time before making such a big decision like this.”

“Can I be honest?” Mary Margaret said slowly.

“Of course.”

“In a way, I’m kind of glad. Something just wasn’t right about him. I’ve felt that way for a while.” Emma looked surprised.

“Well why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t want to ruin what I thought you two had. You seemed really happy with him.”

“I was,” Emma mused, “I really was. I’m gonna call him, tell him to come over. I would rather tell him in person than over the phone.” Mary Margaret nodded and Emma got up to make the call.

Half an hour later, there was a knock at the door. They were both standing in the kitchen, sipping cups of tea that Mary Margaret had made.

“Walsh,” Emma said softly, almost sadly. Mary Margaret squeezed her arm and gave her an encouraging smile, and Emma went to answer the door. Mary Margaret heard her say that they needed to talk and that she would rather do it on the roof. She closed the door softly, leaving Mary Margaret alone. She poured herself another cup of tea and went to the living room. She picked Emma’s favorite movie—The Princess Bride--wanting to be ready to comfort Emma when she got back. She waited.

And waited.

And waited.

She looked at the clock on the DVD player and saw that another 20 minutes had passed. She knew that telling someone that you didn’t want to marry them wouldn’t exactly take a short amount of time, but she thought that Emma would have been back by now. She set her now empty mug on the coffee table and got up, slipping her shoes on and heading out the apartment door to another door at the end of the hall that went up to the roof.

She climbed up the stairs, to the other door, intending to just peek out of it to see if everything was alright, but what she saw was the exact opposite of alright.

“Emma!” she gasped, pushing out the door. Emma was trying to fight off this grey creature, not really succeeding, as the weapon in her hand was a heavy looking piece of pipe. Mary Margaret ran over to the both of them, trying to find something to help her, finally picking up one of the metal chairs that were left in case people wanted to stargaze. The creature was so much bigger up close than from where she had been standing and the chair was heavy and hard to wield. The door to the roof burst open again, and this time David came up, holding a piece of pipe similar to Emma’s. Together, they fought the thing. It scratched at them, and Mary Margaret saw that it caught David on the arm and he went down, leaving Emma and Mary Margaret. They managed to corner it on the edge of the roof, and with one more swoop to the wings, they knocked it down and it fell to the ground, exploding on the pavement.

Mary Margaret immediately dropped the chair and went to check on David, who was sitting up and holding the scratch. A flash of being in a forest, seeing him in the same position, went through her mind as she sat down next to him.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yeah I’m fine,” he said, though his words were a bit strained.

“How did you know? Or even get up here?!”

“I was down there, in front of your apartment. I didn’t know where else to be. I saw the commotion going on up here and waited for someone to open the door and then ran up as fast as I could.” Mary Margaret was touched. She couldn’t think of how to thank him.

You said you appreciate actions more than words.

On impulse, and she did something she would never do normally.

She grabbed his cheeks and planted her lips squarely on his. He was surprised, but returned the kiss soon, though her mind wasn’t on that. She saw flashes of meeting him for the first time, hitting him over the head with a rock, saving him from trolls, following Emma through a portal and then following her again at the town line, leaving her prince behind.

She pulled back, gasping.

“Charming,” she whispered smiling. He smiled back at her, a smile that she hadn’t realized she missed and she kissed him again, causing him to topple over and groan a little bit and she immediately sprung off of him, not wanting to hurt him.

“Whoa,” Emma said walking over and standing over them, a slightly disgusted look on her face, “I’m as grateful to the crazy guy as the next person, but that doesn’t mean that I’m gonna kiss him.” Mary Margaret blushed and stood, helping David up as she went.

“Emma, we need to talk to you about something,” she said. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well my friends, this is the end of part 1! Fear not, part 2 will be coming soon. It will be called Human Again, and I hope to start posting around November. Thank you all for reading and as always, enjoy!

“So you’re a princess.”

“Yes.”

“And he’s your husband.”

“Yes.”

“And I’m your daughter.”

“Yes, Emma.”

“And I have a son.”

Mary Margaret nodded her head. Emma placed her head in her hands, jamming her elbows into her thighs and sighed. She sat at the end of her bed, with Mary Margaret standing above her. David was in the other room.  

“So what do you think?” Mary Margaret asked.

“What do I think?” Emma said, exasperated, as she looked back up, “Mary Margaret, you just told me all of that and then told me that the crazy guy and YOU are from another land, one that has magic and flying monkeys. What am I supposed to think?” She stood up.

       “And now you want me to drink some potion all because you kissed said crazy guy on the roof and now you believe what he’s said—“

       “What he’s saying is true Emma,” Mary Margaret interrupted her, but there was a change to her tone. She didn’t sound like the best friend Emma had grown up with. She sounded more like she was trying to be her mother.

       “One kiss doesn’t prove that! It doesn’t prove anything! It’s just a kiss!”

       “I know it’s far-fetched, but it’s true. This life isn’t real. It’s just not. Use your superpower. You know I’m telling the truth.” Emma gave her a disbelieving look, groaning and then deciding to indulge her. She focused on Mary Margaret, thinking about what she had said over the past few minutes, trying to come up with any possible reason for her to be lying, any motive, but she came up with nothing.

       “Okay you’re not lying. Or maybe you think you’re not lying. I don’t know,” Emma sigh, “Ugh, fine, I’ll take it. But I swear to god Mary Margaret, if we wake up in an alley somewhere—“

       “That isn’t going to happen Emma. I promise,” Mary Margaret answered, and Emma believed her. She trusted this woman with her life. So she nodded and they went back to David, who had made himself comfortable at one of the barstools at the kitchen counter. He was turned to face them, holding a blue vial in his hand. Emma walked over to him, giving him a distrusting look, and snatched the vial out of his hand. She stared at it a moment, making a small prayer to whatever deity was out there that she wouldn’t regret this, before opening it and downing the contents.

***

       “No no no! You missed the turn off!” Mary Margaret—Snow?—Mom?—Emma didn’t know, snapped from the front, using a tone that Emma hadn’t ever heard her use, especially not with David. They had been driving for hours, and the backseat of Emma’s bug only offered so much leg room. They had been taking turns driving, and David had filled her in on what was going on, having already done so with Mary Margaret the night before Emma took the memory potion.

       “I did not!” David retorted and on the arguing continued. They kept up like this until they finally reached the town line, and David

let out a “Ha!” and gloated about there being a reason he was a prince. Mary Margaret looked like she was about to push him out of the moving car. They rolled up through the town, and when they got out of the car in front of Gold’s shop, Emma realized that she had never seen this town—or any town for that matter—look so deserted. Nothing had changed.

       “Where exactly in his shop did Gold say it would be?” Mary Margaret said as David attempted to pick the lock.

       “He didn’t. He just said that the bean would be here. But he didn’t say anything about how we’re supposed to actually get in,” he replied, struggling with the lock. Emma went over, told David to move and remembered something that Neal had told her a long time ago about tumblers, and kept working at it and finally, it opened.

       “Wow, I would have thought that Gold would have had that protected by magic,” Mary Margaret said.

       “Yeah I would have thought so too, but even if a thief was to break into this place, I don’t think they would even know what to do with any of this stuff,” David said, picking up an odd device with a bunch of cogs in it. Emma said nothing, just continued looking for the familiar looking bean. She went into the back room, hoping to find something there. The shop, like the rest of the town, was deserted but it still had that eerie feeling that Emma had grown used to whenever she came here, but coupled with the silence, it was just unnerving.

       “Are you alright, Emma?” Mary Margaret said from behind her, startling her. She bumped her head on the shelf above her.

       “God you scared me!” Emma gasped, rubbing her head a little bit as she turned to face Mary Margaret.

       “Sorry,” she said, coming over and looking at the same shelf Emma had been, “But seriously, what’s going on? You can tell me.” Emma thought about it for a moment, unsure of how to proceed.

       “It’s just. I don’t know; what we had? It was good. I liked the life we were living. Not having to worry about saving the town from the next big threat was amazing. When I took that potion, it was like waking up from a dream. A really good dream. And now here we go again, off to save the town from god knows who.” She knew she was being selfish, but she couldn’t help it. Even if she had gotten a little vacation, she wanted more.

       “I know, Emma. I know and I’m sorry,” Mary Margaret said, reaching a hand out to her. Emma felt herself stiffen a little bit, not really in the mood for comfort, but she allowed the gesture. She could tell that Mary Margaret just didn’t know what to say.

       “You guys find anything in here?” David asked, popping his head into the room. They both shook their heads, but continued looking. The room was crowded now, so Emma moved to the other side of the room and came across what looked like an old fashioned wardrobe. She pulled on the doors, but they wouldn’t budge. The doors didn’t have a lock.

       “Come over here guys,” she said and they crowded around her, both giving opening the doors a shot, but not succeeding.

       “It must have some sort of enchantment on it,” David said, punching the wardrobe.

       _We didn’t come all this way just to be set back by a locked door,_ Emma thought. She quickly looked for something heavy, finding one of those pull out telescopes that pirates used.

       _If this is Hook’s, I hope he doesn’t mind me using it._  She went back to the closet and began hitting it with the extended telescope.   

       “Emma!” David yelled, “Emma, stop!” But Emma didn’t listen, until Mary Margaret just pulled it out of her hands.

       “Well how else do you think we’ll get in?” Emma asked, exasperated.

       “You have magic, remember?” Mary Margaret retorted.

       “Yeah but I don’t use it! I haven’t in months!”

       “It’s inside you Emma, it won’t just go away,” David said, “Just give it a try. If it doesn’t work we’ll just figure something else out.”

       “Magic is about emotion. What you were telling me about earlier? Channel all of that; think of Henry and getting back to him. You can do it Emma,” Mary Margaret’s voice was encouraging now. Emma took a deep breath, and then focused on the wardrobe doors, putting both hands up. She pictured locks coming undone and doors opening in her mind, and put all of her anger and sadness and longing to see Henry again. Just as she thought it wasn’t working, she heard the sound of a door clicking and opened her eyes to see that the wardrobe door was swinging, one door opened just crack.

       “You did it Emma!” Mary Margaret exclaimed as David opened the wardrobe door, holding up the magic bean in triumph. They quickly closed the door and exited the shop. Emma went immediately went to her bug, but David caught her arm.

       “Leave it. We can’t take it with us,” he said softly.

       “But it’s my car!” Emma whined.

       “The Enchanted Forest doesn’t have paved roads. It’ll be fine here.”

       “But—“

       “We’ll make it back. I promise you that Emma,” he said solemnly. She looked at her car, groaned, and then went with him and Mary Margaret. They went into the middle of the street, and David threw the bean down. A portal opened up, glowing orange and Emma could feel its power in the air, like static before a storm. David grabbed Mary Margaret’s hand and then held his other one out to Emma. She hesitated and then took it, gripping it firmly as she gave a small nod to the both of them, and they all jumped in as a family.

       It was like the first time she had been taken to the Enchanted Forest. That feeling of being stretched a little bit and for a few moments, it was like falling slowly, as though there was just enough gravity to keep them moving and not altogether suspended. What hadn’t been there the first time, though, was the water at the end of the tunnel. Emma had just enough time to hold her breath as time sped up again, and she was submerged.

       She opened her eyes, looking for Mary Margaret and David. She could just barely see them in the dark water as they swam upward, and Mary Margaret motioned for her to follow them. Up she swam, letting out a few bubbles through her nose, and it became easier to see as she went up. She saw a light at the top, and focusing on that, gave a few more powerful strokes and broke the surface, taking in a gulp of air. She heard Mary Margaret and David do the same and they both tread over to her.

       “Where are we?” she asked, breathing hard. David looked over her shoulder.

       “Lake Nostos. This is where I came through the first time. I can see the castle from here,” he said. Emma turned, and there, in the distance, were the dark spires of a castle, cutting a line in the sky.

       “Your castle?” she asked.

       “Hook’s,” he said. Emma nodded

       They swam to shore and got out of the water, their clothes heavy with water and dragging as they began their trek towards the castle. Emma was grateful that the sun was shining, however, as it warmed her through.

By the time they reached the castle though, hours later, the sun was setting and their clothes still weren’t dry. Emma shivered as the air turned cooler, the sun’s warmth being taken away as it disappeared over the horizon. She looked up at the castle, looming dark against the orange and pink sky, and made a decision. This was her last run as the Savior. She was going to help the town one more time, save Henry, and then him and her were leaving. She wanted a normal life, one with videogames and hot chocolate and dating, not one with evil teenagers and curses. This wasn’t the life she wanted, not the one she had asked for, and she was ready to live the one she did want. No matter the consequences.

***

_7 months earlier_

Pan waited, sitting on a log. Felix and the Lost Boys had gone to bed a couple of hours ago, but he couldn’t sleep. The eternal Neverland night was warm and humid as always, and the stars and moon shone bright. He was gazing into the fire, when he felt a disturbance near him.

Dark green smoke appeared out nowhere, bringing with it a woman of the same color as the cloud around her. Her hat was pointed, her dress long and her green skin gave away who she was immediately.

Zelena.

Neverland was isolated, but Pan made it his business to know beings with powers that matched his--well, almost matched his anyway. He wasn’t worried they would ever be able to kill him, but a king needed to know potential allies and enemies. But with Zelena, it had always been difficult to tell if she was one or the other. Her power was great, and she was as selfish and driven as he was, but he had always thought that she would use her powers for something petty, something that wasn’t worth his time.

“Zelena,” he greeted in a mocking tone, standing and bowing, “to what to I owe the pleasure? It’s not often a lady such as yourself--”

“Oh save it,” she snapped, “I have a proposition for you, boy, one that I think you will like.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” he said, sitting back down on his log. She hesitated, seemingly gauging him.

“Well, I haven’t all day. Out with it,” he said shortly.

“Oh and what exactly do you have planned? Playing catch? Farting contests with your Lost Boys?”

“As a matter of fact, yes I do have those things planned and more, and all of them are about twenty times more interesting than what I am currently doing.” Zelena gave him a look.

“Well then, I’ll get right to the point. I want to destroy my sister and I need your help to do it,” she said, looking at her nails like they were more interesting than the topic at hand.

“Do you now? And what exactly can I do to help?”

“You have magic, and a reach that is a bit further than mine. And you have a motive just like I do. I want to kill my sister and you want to rule. With my plan, I think we can both get what we want.”

“Enough exposition, witch,” he said, annoyed, “Just tell me your plan.”

She launched in, going on about her idea for a curse, and how it would benefit the both of them.

“Sounds complex. You’re sure we can pull this off?” he asked when she finished.

“Oh, I had heard you were powerful, but if not--”

“I am powerful. I never fail. But this curse is complex. I'm questioning if it can be done."

“Well then,” she said, smirking, “If you never fail, then I don’t see why we can’t do it. If you haven’t heard, I’m wicked. And wicked always wins.” 


End file.
